Verizon teams up with Cisco, Juniper to create a single disaggregated platform for edge routers

Verizon is using its software-defined networking technology, along with collaboration with Cisco and Juniper Networks, to put all of its existing edge routers for Ethernet and IP-based services onto a single platform.

The benefits to creating and using a single disaggregated platform include greater operational efficiencies while also increasing the functionality and flexibility of multiservice edge functions and applications, the company said.

True to its SDN roots, the "intelligent" edge platform uses a disaggregated control plane and external compute to boost those control plane capacities beyond those of traditional routers.

Blitz Week

Register for FierceTelecom Blitz Week - June 15-18

As the telecom industry moves forward in the age of new technology, FierceTelecom Blitz week addresses the questions of how platforms, providers, and more will modernize to keep up with these fast-paced changes and their current status of implementing these changes. Join us June 15-18 to dive deep into the world of telecom transformation.

By simplifying the network edge, Verizon said it can make improvements in the deployment and provisioning of infrastructure on its networks as well as in customer-facing areas such as Ethernet, Internet and VPN-based services.

“Software-defined networking continues to deliver on its promise to improve network management and also enables us to be more nimble in the ways we serve our customers,” said Michael Altland, director of Verizon's Network Infrastructure Planning, in a release. “By decoupling the control plane from a carrier-grade provider edge routing platform and moving it to general compute servers, we can serve our consumer and enterprise customers from the same platform, giving them all the functionality they need, while running our networks far more efficiently. This will also allow us to take advantage of future advances in server technology as our networks continue to grow.”

Verizon said the first deployments on its IP networks started earlier this year and were slated to continue through the end of next year. The telco said the endgame for the edge platform was to eventually replace all of the legacy router functions within its networks.